Method and apparatus for containing well pollutants



METHOD AND APPARATUS FR CONTAINING WELL; POLLUTNTS Filed March 1, 1968 INVENIOR CHESTER G, H/ESTEF? BY JA/TQTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,527,057 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTAINING WELL POLLUTANTS Chester George Riester, 10397 S. Lake Blvd., Parma, Ohio 44129 Filed Mar. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 709,704 Int. Cl. E02b 1/00; E21b l5 02 U.S. Cl. 61--34 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Well installation apparatus and method utilizing a header surrounding the well casing and a large Colfer or caisson surrounding the header, the diameter of the caisson being large enough to contain the well tailings which might otherwise pollute the area surrounding the well site, the caisson of a'n adjacent well site being used to contain the tailings of the initially completed well.

This invention relates generally as indicated to a method and apparatus for containing well pollutants and more particularly to well installation apparatus and methods utilizing a large caisson surrounding a header which in turn surrounds the well with the tailings of an initially completed well being pumped into the container formed by the header and caisson of an adjacent well installation.

In the completion of oil and gas wells, or any type well for that matter, pollution of the well site is a continuing and increasingly important problem. Drilling tailings such as mud, brine, oil, etc. can readily pollute streams nearby and in olf-shore drilling, particularly in fresh water bodies, the escape of tailings can, be a serious problemre Itis accordinglyaprincipal object of the present invention to provide-aV well installation which will contain pollutants.k

l Another principal object is the provision of a well installation procedure for a plurality of well installations wherein each installation is provided with a surrounding pollutants container with the tailings of the initially completed well being pumped into the container of an adjacent well site installation.

A further object is the provision of a well installation utilizing a header driven into the bottom and a caisson surrounding the header and also driven into the bottom, the header and caisson providing a container for the well tailings.

Still another object is the provision of a Well installation for oit-shore drilling which includes a header surrounding the well and a circular cofferdam of sheet driven piling surrounding the header and substantially higher than the header providing a container for well pollutants.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawing setting forth in detail a certain illustrative embodiment of the invention.

In said annexed drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a Well installation in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a Vertical section illustrating the first step in the completion of the installation with a header being driven at the well site;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating the caisson installed surrounding the header;

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FIG. 4 is a vertical section illustrating the Well completed inside the header;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal section taken substantially on the line 5 5 of FIG. 3 showing the detail of the sheet piling forming the surrounding caisson; and

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view illustrating the cornpletion procedures for a plurality of Well sites in a given field.

Referring now first to FIG. l, it will be seen that a header in the form of a relatively large diameter pipe 1 is vertically driven at the well site. As seen more clearly in FIG. 2 in an off-shore installation, the header may be driven through the water 2 and through the sand bed 3 to clay 4 or other suitable solid sub-structure. The header may be approximately two feet in diameter and extends approximately two feet above the Water level 5 as indicated at 6.

Surrounding the now vertically positioned header 1, there is placed an annular coiferdarn or caisson 7 which as seen in FIG. 3 is driven into the sand bottom 3 through the water 2. The caisson need not be driven to the clay or solid bottom 4 but only so far into the sand bottom as to provide suicient structural support.

As indicated in FIG, 5, the caisson 7 may be formed of corrugated sheet piling sections seen at 8 and 9 with each section being provided with lateral mating flanges shown at 10 and 11. A vertically extending seal 12 is provided between such flanges and such flanges and thus the piling sections may be held together by suitable fasteners indicated at 13. The sheet piling sections, like the header 1, may be driven in place by a pile driver. Also it will 'be appreciated that a prefabricated caisson may be employed.

For .off-shore installations as seen in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cofferdam or caisson 7 may extend substantially higher above the water level '5 than the header 1. The caisson rnay extend, for example, approximately six feet above the water level as indicated at 15.

It can nowbbe seen that the header surrounded by the coiferdam 7 provides a container surrounding the well site as indicated at 16. The Volume of the container is, of course, determined by the diameter of the outer caisson and this diameter will be selected to provide a container having suicient volume to receive all to the tailings from the well which is completed through the well casing 18 driven interiorly of the header 1. The well will then be completed with the well casing 18 driven to the depth required which may, for example, be on the order of 2600 feet. It is this estimate of the depth of the well which, of course, determines the volume of the container provided by the outer caisson 7. A suitable platform for the drilling and completion of the well will, of course, be provided on top of the caisson.

The procedure for a well installation would be as follows. First the header 1 is sunk into place against the lirrn bottom 4. A coiferdam 7 of the required diameter is then constructed around the header driven into the sand bottom 3 to a sufficient depth to provide a sufciently strong structure. The header 1 is then pumped out with the contents being discharged into the body of water 2. The coiferdam 7 may also be pumped out to provide an open container 16 for the etlluent from the well drilling operation.

The well is now completed with the well casing 18 being positioned as the well is driven. The tailings or effluent from the well may be pumped directly into the container 16 with the header providing a dam to prevent flow of the tailings back into the Well while the caisson provides a darn to prevent ilow of the tailings into the surrounding water thus containing the pollutants. The

cofferdam 7 will thus contain any oil, brine, muck or other pollutants resulting from well completion and operation. The tailings may be discharged directly into the container as illustrated by the arrow 20.

Referring now to FIG. 6 there is illustrated a multiple well installation in a held of well sites. A rst well installation will be prepared as indicated at 22 with the header 1 and cofferdam 7 being positioned about the well casing 18. A second adjacent site is prepared as indicated at 23 with a header 24 and surrounding caisson 25 being installed. The header and caisson are pumped out at the second installation and the tailings from the completion of the well at the initial site 22 may be pumped directly into the container 26 provided at the adjacent site as indicated by the line 27. When the well is completed in the adjacent site 23, a further site indicated schematically at 28 may be prepared again to receive the tailings from the second site. This procedure or honeycomb approach to the completion of the eld will leave the initial container 16 of the initial site 22 open as a reserve to contain pollutants from any of the other installations as may be necessary. Additional sites are indicated schematically around the first two completed installations.

It will be appreciated that the present invention may equally well be applied to wells completed in creeks or ditches with the caisson surrounding the header extending above the flood line. This provides a container surrounding the Well preventing the escape of pollutants into the stream or creek and also prevents the flow of the pollutants back into the well.

After the completion of the well and after well capping the header 1 may be pulled and the caisson will be large enough to hold the tailings from the completion of the well as well as to contain any oil, brine, or muck which may result. lf the caisson is eventually dismantled, the pollutants can rst be removed.

It can now be seen that there is provided a well installation apparatus and method which avoids the pollutant problems inherent in well drilling operations today.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. A well installation for drilling in and around water comprising a header driven into the bottom and extending above the water level, a caisson surrounding said header and also driven into the bottom and extending substantially higher above such water level, said header being adapted to receive well casing through which the well s completed, the container thus formed between said header and caisson being adapted to receive well trailings, and at least one additional adjacent well installation including a caisson sur-rounding a header, and means to conduct the tailings of the rst mentioned well to the caisson-header container of said adjacent well installation.

2. A well installation as set forth in claim 1 wherein said caissons are comprised of interconnected sheet piling.

3. A well installation as set forth in claim 2 wherein said sheet piling is corrugated in a vertical direction and sealing means between adjacent sections of said sheet piling operative to form a watertight cofferdam.

4. A method of containing well pollutants for olfshore wells and the like comprising the steps of sinking a large diameter header into rm footing through which such well is to be completed, surrounding such header with a caisson, pumping out such caisson and using the container thus formed surrounding such header to receive well tailings. t

5. The method of claim 4 including the step of sinking a header and placing a caisson therearound at an adjacent well site, pumping out the container thus formed at such adjacent well site, and using such second container to receive the tailing of the first completed well.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein such caisson is formed of driven sheet piling and extends higher than such header.

7. A method of containing lwell pollutants for offshore wells and the like comprising the steps of sinking a large diameter header into iirm footing through which such well is to be completed, surrounding such header with a caisson, using such caisson-header container thus formed to receive well tailings, and removing such tailings from such caisson-header container as required.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 675,125 5/1901 Brown 61-34 1,722,674 7/ 1929 Oberschulte 61-60 1,811,761 6/1931 Roberts 175-9 X 1,856,312 5/1932 Bradshaw et al. 166-.5 3,044,561 7/1962 Swiger 175-8 3,386,254 6/ 1968 Connally 61--69 PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

